


The Christmas Programme

by YunHo_1819



Series: Garrison Shenanigans [9]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Christmas, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Galaxy Garrison, Gen, Holidays, Pre-Canon, Pre-Kerberos Mission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:15:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28216821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YunHo_1819/pseuds/YunHo_1819
Summary: Whatcha guys doing for Christmas?” Matt asked suddenly.Keith looked up from his cards, furrowing his brow at Matt’s question. “Uhh… I haven’t really celebrated Christmas in years, so…” He shrugged nonchalantly, though his wistful expression betrayed his thoughts.Matt tactfully decided not to comment. “Shiro, what about you?”“Nah, I don’t celebrate. Usually, in the morning, my family and I just catch up on much-needed sleep, then we head to work in the afternoon,” Shiro replied offhandedly.“Okay, that’s it.” Matt jumped to his feet and rolled up his sleeves. “I am going to fix this.” He pointed a finger towards the pair and yelled aggressively, “And you two better enjoy it!” then stormed out of the room with an air of dignity and complete sanity.Keith and Shiro exchanged a look. “Should I be worried?” Keith asked. Shiro waved his hand around nonchalantly. “Nah.”Merry Christmas!
Relationships: Adam & Keith (Voltron), Adam & Matt Holt, Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Matt Holt & Keith, Matt Holt & Shiro
Series: Garrison Shenanigans [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1955206
Comments: 3
Kudos: 50





	The Christmas Programme

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pippythewriter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pippythewriter/gifts).



> Merry Christmas!  
> I had so many ideas about this season, so I decided to write them all down. Here's the result.  
> As you can see, this work is gifted. To Pippythewriter, thank you so much for supporting and commenting on like, almost all of my works since I first began. Even though we've never met each other, your reviews have given me tons of motivation that make me want to continue writing. :)  
> (I hope you don't mind me calling you out like that. Tell me if you want me to take it down, alright?)  
> To other readers, thanks for your support as well! I hope my stories brightened your day, at least a little.

“Whatcha guys doing for Christmas?” Matt asked suddenly, plopping lazily onto the couch. Due to the horrendous weather raging across the country, the Garrison had denied permission for anyone to head home for the holidays. This, however, did not put off anyone from enjoying their free time. Currently, Matt, Keith and Shiro were holed up in Shiro’s on-base apartment, with the latter two engaged in an intense game of Uno.

Keith looked up from his cards, furrowing his brow at Matt’s question. “Uhh… I haven’t really celebrated Christmas in years, so…” He shrugged nonchalantly, though his thoughts were betrayed by his wistful expression.

Matt tactfully decided not to comment. “Shiro, what about you?”

Despite knowing him for many years, Matt still remained clueless about what Shiro actually did during the holiday season. It was the first and only time they were confined on base together during the break, after all.

“Nah, I don’t celebrate. Usually, in the morning, my family and I just catch up on much-needed sleep, then we head to work in the afternoon,” Shiro replied offhandedly, placing down a plus-four. Keith scowled.

Matt gasped, scandalised. “I’m unspeakably offended by your disinterest towards festivities! How dare you ignore the importance of joyous merrymaking!”

Keith snorted at the strange outburst. Shiro tilted his head towards Matt, unperturbed. “What?”

“Okay, that’s it.” Matt jumped to his feet and rolled up his sleeves. “I am going to fix this.” He pointed a finger towards the pair and yelled aggressively, “And you two better enjoy it!” then stormed out of the room with an air of dignity and complete sanity.

Keith and Shiro exchanged a look. “Should I be worried?” Keith asked. Shiro waved his hand around nonchalantly. “Nah, just let him do whatever he wants. And also, Uno.”

Keith screamed.

* * *

The next morning, Keith entered Shiro’s apartment to the smell of baking. “Wha-” He started, looking around confusedly.

Matt walked out of the kitchen with a tray of gingerbread men in hand. “Welcome to Matt Holt’s programme of Festivities Education and Assisted Training! Also known as FEAT! Genius, am I right? It is mandatory for all heathens and all poor, deprived souls. Keith! Get back in here-” The gingerbread men were hastily placed on the table as Matt chased after an escaping Keith. He dragged him back and seated him at the table, blocking the exit. Keith pouted in defeat and crossed his arms.

“Today, my young padawan, I will be teaching you the art of cookie decorating.” Matt spread his hands excitedly. “I’ve prepared the icing and cookies because Shiro would be joining us after his morning jog and we don’t want his disastrous culinary skills anywhere near the kitchen.” Keith raised an amused eyebrow at that.

“So all you gotta do is grab a piping bag and hold it like this-” Matt adjusted Keith’s grip, “And squeeze lightly onto the cookie. Don’t worry about doing it badly, as long as it’s still edible, it’s fine. And draw whatever, or whoever you want. Just don’t draw me because I don’t want to observe the brutal cannibalism of my poor, innocent soul.”

“What innocence?” Keith grumbled. Still, he grudgingly pulled a cookie over and started to pipe. Matt crowed in victory.

Shiro came in a good thirty minutes later and smiled at the sight before him. Matt was leisurely preparing the piping bags, filling them with various colours before placing them neatly in a row beside Keith’s arm. Said person in question was decorating a gingerbread man with a Garrison cadet uniform. His tongue stuck out a little in intense focus as he piped a tiny frown onto the cookie’s face, which Shiro found inexplicably endearing.

Keith’s eyes lit up when he noticed Shiro’s presence. “Oh, hey, Shiro! Look, I made this one for you.” He held up a different gingerbread man. The tiny person appeared to be a Shiro, with a tuft of black hair at the front and a large smiley face. The torso was slathered with streaks of colour in a classy rainbow. Shiro accepted the cookie from him, taking a nibble. It was extremely sweet, and he wasn’t only talking about the taste. He sent a grateful smile towards Keith as he took a seat opposite the pair.

Keith beamed in response, then returned to decorating his gingerbread man with brown, stringy hair. Shiro looked at the cookie and frowned curiously, “Is that… James Griffin?”

“Yep.”

“That’s awesome! I can’t believe that you two are finally trying to make up!” Shiro’s eyes shone with genuine excitement.

Keith snorted, “Yeah, like that will ever happen.” With that, he stared directly into Shiro’s eyes and chomped off mini James’ head. Matt howled in laughter.

* * *

After lunch, Matt stuffed a stack of paper into Keith’s arms. “Come on! We’re gonna sing some carols.”

Keith groaned, “No. I don’t feel like singing.” He shoved the scores and lyrics at Shiro, who accepted them eagerly. 

“Come on! Please?” Matt batted his eyelashes dramatically and morphed his face into a pout. Keith wrinkled his nose and recoiled back.

“No.”

Matt huffed, “Fine. But you have to stay with us. No holing your room.” Keith shrugged at that.

They sat in a semicircle in the living room. Adam, who had heard Matt’s FEAT programme and wanted in, brought a borrowed guitar in which he casually strummed. Matt and Shiro started singing in loud, boisterous voices, despite being wholly out of tune.

Within a few minutes, the room filled with laughter and dissonant music. Matt turned to Keith, deciding to goad him into singing once more. “Please, it’s fun~”

“Nope, not doing that.”

“Why?”

Keith fidgeted at the scrutiny. “Just don’t want to.”

Matt relented a little. “It’s okay if you don’t know the songs! Just follow my lead, and if you don’t know the lyrics, you could always make them up!”

“Okay.”

Matt whooped. He knew that his persuasion skills were invincible!

That is until Keith opened his mouth and started singing, “Jingle bells, prison cells, no one gets away~ Oh, what fun it is to die from a blood-soaked horse’s sleigh, hey!”

“Keith, no-”

* * *

There was a loud thump. Then a groan and some cursing. Keith paused his studying and peeked out of the bedroom door, where the sight of Matt and Shiro lugging a Christmas tree into the apartment greeted his eyes.

Keith stared open-mouthed. “That’s… too big.” The tree touched the ceiling and slanted to the side. Tiny needles sprinkled to the floor.

“Nonsense!” Matt’s grin broadened drastically. “This is perfect!” 

Beside him, Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, “You are on floor cleaning duty.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Matt dismissed, “but before that, we’re going to decorate first!” He dragged a box of ornaments into view and whisper-shouted, “I didn’t buy these, got them from the storage room in the officers’ lounge.”

Keith frowned, “Is that allowed?”

“Nope.”

“Okay. Just checking.” Keith dug through the box and pulled out a tiny snowman. He analysed it curiously, tilting his head to a side. “They’re cute.” Delicately, he hung the ornament onto a branch, making sure the snowman’s face was visible. His grin mirrored the snowman’s smile.

Shiro found his excitement immensely adorable. Matt practically melted as he sneakily took photos from his communicator.

Realising the other two were staring, Keith swivelled back, raising an eyebrow. “What?”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Matt recovered hastily and pulled out some tinsel from the box. “Shiro, help me with this.” 

Shiro complied.

Adam walked into the apartment late at night and stifled a noise of surprise. The trio was slumped on the couch, sound asleep. Beside them, the Christmas tree stood tall, its lights glistening fluorescent under the bellowing, misty sky. The scene was somewhat heartwarming.

As he glanced at the mess on the floor, the spell broke. Adam scowled. How thoughtful they were to leave the cleaning to  _ him. _

* * *

Keith awoke the next morning with bleary eyes and rumpled hair. He blinked at his surroundings.

_ What had happened? _

Ah, right. Tree decorating. Keith recalled the events of the night before. Shiro had accidentally dropped a bauble onto Matt’s head, which escalated into a full-out war. With a jolt, he remembered that they were supposed to clean up afterwards. Oops.

He did a double-take as the fogginess lifted. The floor was pristine, no sign of the battle.  _ Ah, Adam must’ve cleaned it, _ he realised guiltily.

Leaving the other two passed out on the couch, Keith made his way to the kitchen. Adam greeted him with a nod and a pointed look. “You overslept.”

Keith shrugged. “I’m still considered early, as the others are still sleeping. And I’m sorry about the mess yesterday.”

“It’s almost noon,” Adam huffed in response, “Anyways, we’re eating gingerbread for breakfast. You can have the leftover icing. There’s also ice cream in the fridge. Just don’t tell Shiro and we’re good.”

Keith grinned mischievously and snagged a treat from the counter. “Okay.”

They ate in silence, quickly, not wanting to risk Shiro’s tyrannical wrath reserved only for inappropriate dietary practices.

Adam broke the silence. “Oh, by the way, thanks for the gingerbread you decorated for me yesterday. Though, seriously, did you have to give me glasses? They make me look nerdy.”

Keith sniggered, “What? You  _ are _ nerdy.”

Adam yelled in mock outrage. “I’m disowning you. You have now been downgraded to maid.” He harrumphed, “Go pull up the curtains and wake the idiots.”

Keith stared at him for a moment, then complied. “Whatever, boss.”

Keith pulled up the curtains, and a sea of white greeted his sight.

He blinked. “It’s… snow.”

“Wait, really?” Matt shook out of his grumpiness from being brutally woken (Keith shrieked in his ear) and dashed towards the window. His eyes shone with excitement at the scene before him as he whooped in joy. Despite what the Garrison said about the recent weather, the view outside looked windless, and the sun was out.

Keith was still staring outside. “It’s so white,” he murmured.

Matt patted Keith’s head. “That’s what snow’s like, buddy.”

“I lived in the desert, okay? We didn’t have this stuff.” His reply was indignant. “And after that I…” he trailed off.

Matt slung an arm around his shoulder and broke him out of his train of thought. “Then come on, we gotta go outside!”

They had to wake Shiro, again, because the guy was practically in hibernation. The same appeal to snow somehow didn’t apply to adults.

“Come on, wake up.”

“Mngh.”

“Shiro, you gotta wake up. Keith’s never seen snow before.”

“I have, I just never got to play with it.”

Shiro was now wide awake.

Convincing Adam to let them fool outside was easier.

Adam levelled Keith a look and tossed him a pair of gloves. “I expect you to come back and do the chores, maid. Especially the ones in the fridge.”

Keith grinned, “Sure, sure. As you wish, boss.” Matt looked on in confusion.

“Come on, let’s go!”

The outside was chillier than expected. Keith never realised how much the Garrison relied on heaters, until now. It was still snowing lightly. Flecks of icy crystals danced about and decorated his coat with a layer of white. Keith stood still, unsure of what exactly he was supposed to do.

A snowball hurtled towards him and nailed him at the back of his head. He whipped around to find a laughing Matt.

_ Oh, it’s on. _

The scene soon scaled into a flurry of pelting projectiles and boisterous shouting. Matt and Keith tackled Shiro, sending him rolling on the ground. Shiro retaliated by shoving snow in their faces.

Pretty soon, they lay on the comfy floor, all tired out and faces red from the cold.

“We should head back inside,” Matt said, voice still breathless from the battle. “I think Adam’s got some hot chocolate ready.” 

Keith had just gotten up when a handful of snow poofed into his face. He froze in place, then flopped back to the ground dramatically, sticking his tongue out as if he were dead.

“Keith! Noooo!” Shiro wailed theatrically and hugged Keith’s limp form. Keith let his arms fall uselessly by his sides as Matt sniggered.

“It’s too late,” said Shiro in faux grief, “we have to carry him back.” With that, he swung Keith over his shoulder into a fireman’s carry and raced back indoors, with Keith yelping at the sudden jostles and Matt trailing behind, howling in laughter.

* * *

“Matt?”

“Yes, Keith?”

“Why are you doing all this?”

Matt put his book down. “What do you mean?”

“Umm…” Keith wrung his hands “It’s almost Christmas. And you have a lot of other friends. So why do you want me joining in on all this stuff? Why bother including me? I’m probably ruining your time.”

Matt sighed a little and faced Keith. “Keith, you’re not ruining anything. And it’s the holidays. You deserve to have some fun, too.” He slung his arm around Keith’s shoulder. “Look, the point of this break is for us to spend time with our friends and family, and I want to spend time with you.”

“Oh.” Keith didn’t know what to say.

Matt’s gaze softened. “You deserve this, Keith. Whoever told you that you ruin things is wrong.” Keith stiffened, but Matt continued, “And we had fun, didn’t we? Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy today and yesterday. I did.”

Keith let out a small smile.

“See? It’s fine. Now how about we get some dessert? I know Adam’s been sneaking ice cream for you.” He waggled his finger. “You gotta give me some! It’s part of the FEAT programme. Food’s gotta be shared.”

Keith shoved him playfully. He was smiling for real now. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

* * *

The afternoon was cosy. The members of FEAT sat on the floor of the living room, colour pencils and markers in hand. Matt had wanted to go Christmas shopping, but since they weren’t allowed to leave the base, Adam had suggested making cards for each other instead.

“Shiro, why are you doing that? You look like a little kid.” Keith asked half-jokingly.

Matt looked in Shiro’s direction and snorted. The man in question was doing the Asian squat while scribbling away on a piece of card paper.

“That’s because he is a little kid, Keith.”

Shiro looked up. “Matt, don’t you dare-”

Matt cut in triumphantly, “Shiro is five!”

Shiro groaned.

Keith blinked. “Wait, really? Hang on, were you born on  _ leap day?” _

Shiro gave a long-suffering sigh. “Yep.”

“That’s so cool!” Keith’s eyes widened dramatically.

“Yep, it’s cool,” Shiro replied monotonously, “until someone like a certain Matthew Holt reminds me of it every day.”

“True,” Matt grinned wickedly, “Oh, I’ve finished your card.” He handed Shiro an envelope. Shiro accepted it warily.

“Go on, open it.”

Shiro tore the sealings open and stared. “It’s a decorated piece of paper.”

“That’s what a card is, Shiro.”

Keith peered his head to look and had to muffle a chuckle. Teletubbies were doodled all over the card’s interior. Adam straight-out laughed.

“He didn’t even react,” Matt pouted. Keith patted his shoulder consolingly.

Shiro was still staring intently at the card in wonder. “This is… actually really nice. Thanks.”

“Oh, God.” Matt slapped his forehead. “Well, I’m glad that you like it.”

“Here’s your card, Matt.” Keith handed him a green envelope. Matt accepted it gratefully and ruffled Keith’s hair. He then proceeded to open it-

-and a burst of confetti hit him in the face.

“Wha-” He spluttered, dropping the card and started wiping his face wildly.

Keith smirked and high-fived Shiro. “Got you.”

“I hate both of you,” Matt muttered.

* * *

It was almost midnight, yet Matt was still awake.

They were lying on the couch, with blankets wrapped around them. It was movie night, and halfway through the movie, the others had already fallen asleep.

Keith was snuggled between him and Shiro, his head tucked under Shiro’s arm. He looked content and in place, with his mouth upturned into a small smile. Matt looked at the others. They were all wearing similar expressions of comfort.

He grinned to himself. The program was a success. He had managed to convert two holiday-deprived souls into mischievous, merrymaking gremlins.

With a satisfied sigh, he basked in the festive excitement and rhythmic snores, then drifted off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Christmas carol lyrics are taken from Paint's Violent Christmas Carols. I do not own them.  
> Hope you enjoyed it! Spend time with the people you enjoy being around with. (Though remember to social distance as well) It doesn't matter what religion or race or gender you are, you have the right to be happy.


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